1 After David returned from slaughtering the Amalekites, he stayed in Tsiklag for two days. (King Sha’ul was dead by this time.) 2 Then on the third day, wow, a man came from Sha’ul’s camp. He had torn clothes and dirt on his head, and when he got to David he fell onto his knees and bowed low. 3 “Where have you come from?” David asked him.

“I was in Israel’s camp, but managed to escape.” he replied. 4 “Why? What happened?” David demanded. “Tell me, please,”

“Our people fled from the battle,” the man said. “Many fell and died. Even Sha’ul and his son Yonatan died.”

5 “How do you know that Sha’ul and Yonatan died?” David asked the young man who’d brought the news.

6 “I happened to be on Mt. Gilboa,” the young man replied, “and listen, Sha’ul was leaning on his spear. Then wow, the chariots and the masters of the chariot horses overtook him,[ref] 7 and he turned around and saw me. He called me and I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘I’m an Amalekite,’ I told him. 9 Then he said to me, ‘Please, come over here and kill me, because although I’m still alive, the pain is unbearable.’ 10 So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that with those wounds, he wouldn’t live. Then I took the crown off his head and the bracelet on his arm, and I brought them here to you, my master.”

11 Then David pulled at his clothes with his hands and tore them, and all the men with him did the same, 12 and they mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Sha’ul and for his son Yonatan, and for Yahweh’s people, because many Israelis had been killed.

13 Then David asked the young man who’d brought the news, “Where are you from?”

“I’m a foreigner’s son,” he replied, “an Amalekite.” 14 “How come you weren’t afraid to kill Yahweh’s anointed king with your own hands?” David asked him. 15 Then David called to one of his young men, “Come over here and execute him.” So he struck him, and he died. 16 “Your blood’s on your own head,” David told the Amalekite, “because you admitted in your own words that you, yourself killed Yahweh’s anointed one.”

17 Then David sang this funeral song for Sha’ul and his son Yonatan 18 and said that it should be taught to the people of Yehudah. It’s called ‘The bow’ and indeed, it’s written down in the Book of Yashar:[ref]

19 “Israel’s splendour was slain in the hills.

≈How the powerful warriors have died.

20 Don’t tell them in Gat.

≈Don’t let them take the news to Ashkelon’s streets,

in case the Philistine women celebrate,

and the daughters of the uncircumcised are elated.

21 You mountains in Gilboa,

may you have no dew or rain fall on you,

nor fields producing grain for offerings.

Because it was there that Shaul’s shield was splattered with his blood,

and the leather won’t be preserved with oil again.

22 From the blood of those slain—

≈from the fat of the warriors,

Yonatan’s bow didn’t retreat

≈and Sha’ul’s sword didn’t fail on its strikes.

23 Sha’ul and Yonatan were loved—

≈they pleased the people.

and even at their death they weren’t separated.

They were swifter than eagles.

≈they were stronger than lions.

24 Weep for Sha’ul you daughters of Israel,

the one who dressed you in nice clothes with jewelry,

≈and gave you all gold brooches to put on.

25 Those warriors have fallen in the middle of the battle.

≈Yonatan has been killed there on the hills.

26 I grieve for you my dear friend Yonatan.

You were so kind to me.

Your friendship meant more to me than the women who say they love me.

27 Yes, those powerful warriors have fallen,

≈and those weapons of war have been destroyed.”

2 After that was over, David inquired from Yahweh, “Should I go into one of Yehudah’s cities?”

“Yes,, go,” Yahweh answered.

“Where should I go?” David asked again.

“To Hebron,” he said.

2 So David took his two wives (Ahinoam the Yezreelite and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite) and went there.[ref] 3 He took his men who were with him, along with their families, and went to live in Hebron and the surrounding towns. 4 Then the Yehudah leaders came and anointed David as king over Yehudah.

They told him, “It was the men of Yabesh-Gilead who buried Sha’ul.”[ref] 5 So David sent messengers to Yabesh-Gilead to tell them, “May Yahweh bless you all because you showed that kindness to your master Sha’ul to bury him respectfully. 6 Now may Yahweh treat you all with kindness and faithfulness, and I myself will also be good to you because you did that. 7 Meanwhile now that Sha’ul your master is dead, continue to be courageous and become brave warriors as Yehudah has anointed me as king over their tribe.

8 However, Abner (Ner’s son) who’d been Sha’ul’s army commander had taken Sha’ul’s son Iysh-Boshet[fn] across to Mahanayim 9 and declared him to be king over Gilead, and over the Asherites and Yezreel, and over Efraim and Benyamin, and over all of Israel. 10 Iysh-Boshet was forty years old when he started to rule over the Israelis, and he ruled them for two years.

But the tribe of Yehudah was loyal to David 11 and he ruled them for seven and a half years.

12 One day Abner left Mahanayim with some of Iysh-Boshet’s servants and went to Gibeon, 13 but Yoav (Tseruyah’s son, traditionally called ‘Joab’ in English) took some of David’s servants and went and confronted them at the Gibeon pool—one group on each side of the pool. 14 Then Abner said to Yoav, “Let’s get some of these young warriors to fight it out in front of us.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Yoav.

15 So they stood up and counted off twelve representing Benyamin and Sha’ul’s son Iysh-Boshet and twelve from David’s servants. 16 Each of them grabbed his opponent’s head and then thrust his sword into his side, so they both fell down dead together. So that place in Gibeon was named ‘Helkat-Hatsurim’ (meaning ‘Field of Daggers’).

17 That led on to a very intense battle that day, but Abner and the Israeli men were defeated by David’s servants. 18 Tseruyah’s three sons were there: Yoav, Avishay, and Asah-El, (Asah-El was a fast runner—like a wild antelope.) 19 and Asah-El chased after Abner and wouldn’t give up. 20 Abner turned and said, “Is that you, Asah-El?”

“Yes, it’s me,” he answered.

21 “I’m warning you: Stop chasing me and go after someone else instead,” Abner called back. But Asah-El wouldn’t give up 22 so Abner tried again, “Stop chasing me! You’ll force me to kill you, then how could I face your brother Yoav?” 23 But Asah-El wouldn’t give up so Abner thrust the butt end of his spear into his stomach and it went right through and came out his back. He fell to the ground and died there, and when the others caught up, they stopped there.

24 But Yoav and Abishai kept going after Abner. As the sun was setting, they came to the Ammah hill (east of Giah, along the road to the wilderness near Gibeon) 25 and the Benyamites lined up behind Abner as an coordinated unit there on top of the hill. 26 Abner called out to Yoav, “Are we just going to keep killing each other? Don’t you know that the only result can be more bitterness? How long will you go on before you command your people to stop killing their cousins?”

27 “As God lives,” Yoav replied, “if you hadn’t said that, then surely it would have been morning before they would have pulled back from the chase.” 28 So Yoav had a trumpet blown and his men stopped fighting and pursing the Israelis.

29 Then Abner and his men walked all that night through the Jordan river plain, then crossed the river and walked all morning until they got back to Mahanayim.

30 When Yoav had assembled them all and counted them, only Asah-El and nineteen others had been killed in the battle, 31 although they had killed 360 of Abner’s Benyamite warriors. 32 They retrieved Asah-El’s body and buried it in his father’s tomb in Beyt-Lehem. Then they walked all night and got back to Hebron at first light.

3 Nevertheless the war between Sha’ul’s and David’s followers dragged on and on, but overall, David’s side had more wins than the followers of Iysh-Boshet.

2 David’s wives gave birth to six sons while they were based there in Hebron: Ahinoam (the Yezreelite) gave birth to Amnon, 3 then Abigail (the widow of Nabal the Carmelite) gave birth to Kileab, and Maakah (daughter of King Talmai of Geshur) gave birth to Abshalom. 4 The fourth was Adoniyyah (son of Haggit), the fifth was Shefatyah (son of Abital), 5 and the sixth was Yitre’am (son of David’s wife Eglah). All six of those sons were born to David in Hebron.

6 While the war between Sha’ul’s son Iysh-Boshet and David’s supporters continued, Abner was strengthening himself with Sha’ul’s supporters. 7 Now Sha’ul had had a slave-wife named Ritspah (daughter of Ayyah) and Abner slept with her. So Iysh-Boshet demanded, “Why have you slept with my father’s slave-wife?” 8 Abner became very angry at this challenge from Iysh-Boshet and snapped back, “Do you think I’m Yehudah’s dog hiding out over here? Today I’ve been helping Sha’ul’s family: your father, his brothers, and his friends, and I won’t let you fall into David’s hands. Yet today you bring some charge against me to do with a woman? 9 May God punish me if I don’t do for David exactly what Yahweh promised him 10 and help with the transfer of the kingdom away from your family and to establish David’s kingdom over both Yehudah and Israel, from Dan down to Beer-Sheba.”[ref] 11 Iysh-Boshet didn’t say a word back to Abner because he was very scared of him.

12 Then Abner sent messengers to David to tell him, “Who should be king of this country? Let’s come to an agreement and then I could join you and help make all of Israel turn to you.”

13 “Yes, good,” David replied. “I’m happy to come to an agreement with you on one condition: you must bring my wife—Sha’ul’s daughter, Mikal—if you want to be accepted here.” 14 Then David sent messengers to Sha’ul’s son Iysh-Boshet saying, “Give Mikal back to me. I earnt her as my wife with the foreskins of one-hundred Philistines.”[ref] 15 So Iysh-Boshet had her taken from her husband (Laish’s son Paltiel), 16 but he walked along behind her, weeping, as far as Bahurim where finally Abner told him to go back home and so he did.

17 Then Abner conferred with the Israeli elders saying, “Previously you were wanting David to be king over you, 18 but now it’s time for action. Yahweh has already said, ‘I’m going to use my servant David to rescue my people Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies.’ ” 19 Abner also spoke privately with the Benyamites, then he went to Hebron to tell David privately what the Israelis and the Benyamites had agreed to.

20 Then Abner took twenty men and went to David at Hebron, and David put on a feast for all of them. 21 Abner asked David, “My master, the king. Let me get ready and go, and let me encourage all of Israel that they’ll make an agreement with you so that you will be king over the entire area as you’ve been wanting.” So David sent Abner, and he went in peace.

22 Soon afterwards, Yoav and some of David’s men arrived after a raid and carried in a lot of plunder. (Abner had already left Hebron because David had sent him off and he’d left in peace.) 23 When Yoav and all the fighters with him arrived, he was told that Abner had been there and spoken with the king, then sent away in peace. 24 So Yoav went to the king and demanded, “What have you done? Abner came to you and I can’t believe that you’d let him go, but he’s definitely not here now. 25 Surely you realise that he only came here to influence you and to find out where you’re coming from and going to, and to learn everything that you’re doing?”

26 Once Yoav had finished talking to David, he sent messengers to catch up to Abner. They found him at the Sirah cistern and brought him back without David’s knowledge. 27 When Abner got back to Hebron, Yoav took him aside at the city gate as if to speak to him privately, then stabbed him in the stomach and he died as vengeance for killing Yoav’s brother Asah-El. 28 Later when David heard about it, he declared, “I and my kingdom are innocent of Abner’s death in Yahweh’s eyes. 29 May Yoav’s extended family continually suffer from sores or leprosy, and be forced into manual labour or be killed in battle, or run out of food to eat.” 30 (That’s how Yoav and his brother Abishai murdered Abner because he’d killed their brother Asah-El in Gibeon during the war.)

31 Then David instructed Yoav and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn for Abner.” Later at the funeral, King David walked behind the coffin 32 and they buried Abner in Hebron. The king cried loudly at the tomb, and the people also wept. 33 The king sang this song for Abner:

“Abner shouldn’t have died as if he was just some drunken fool.

34 He wasn’t handcuffed or with his feet in chains.

He fell like someone disturbing a burglar.”

And so the people wept even more for him.

35 Many people brought food to David during the day, but he promised, “May God severely punish me if I eat anything before the sun goes down.” 36 All the people recognised David’s dignity in handling this matter and were pleased with his behaviour, just as they were pleased with everything that the king did, 37 and everyone throughout Israel knew that the king hadn’t ordered for Abner (Ner’s son) to be executed. 38 Then the king told his servants, “Don’t you all realise that Israel lost a leader and a great man today? 39 Although I was anointed as king, I feel tender today. Those sons of Zeruyah are more violent than me. May Yahweh repay evil people appropriately for their actions.”

4 When Sha’ul’s son Iysh-Boshet heard that Abner had been killed in Hebron, he lost courage and all Israel was horrified. 2 He had two men who were leaders of raiding parties. They were Rimmon’s sons Baanah and Rekav from Beerot in the Benyamite region, 3 but the people from Beerot had fled to Gittaim where they’ve stayed until now.

4 (Sha’ul’s son Yonatan had a son named Mefiboshet. He was five years old when the report about Sha’ul and Yonatan’s death came from Yezreel. Mefiboshet’s nanny picked him up to run to safety, but in her hurry he fell and became crippled in his legs.)[ref]

5 One day, Baanah and Rekav (the sons of Rimmon from Beerot) walked to Iysh-boshet’s house, arriving in the middle of the day when he was taking a nap.6-7 6-7They entered the middle of the house as if getting wheat, then entered the inner room where @Iysh-Boshet was on the bed. They struck him in the body, killing him, then they cut off his head. Then Rekav and Baanah took the head and escaped, and walked all night through the Arabah. 8 They took Iysh-Boshet’s head to David at Hebron and told the king, “Look, here’s the head of Ishbosheth, the son of your enemy Sha’ul who tried to kill you. Today Yahweh’s given vengeance to my master the king against Sha’ul and his descendants.”

9 Then David answered Rekav and his brother Baanah (the sons of Rimmon from Beerot), “As Yahweh lives, having delivered my life from every distress, 10 when the messenger came to Tsiklag thinking he was bringing me good news and told me that Sha’ul was dead, I had him seized and executed.[ref] 11 Now how much more when wicked men have killed an innocent man on his bed in his own house. Shouldn’t I avenge you two for his murder and remove you from the earth?” 12 Then David commanded some of the young men and they killed the two brothers and cut of their hands and feet and hung them[fn] beside the Hebron pool, but they took Iysh-Boshet’s head and buried it there in Hebron in Abner’s tomb.

5 Then the leaders of all of Israel’s tribes came to David at Hebron and said to him, “Listen, we’re all close relations. 2 In the past when Sha’ul was our king, you were the one who actually showed leadership of the people. Yahweh has already told you that you will shepherd Israel and become our king.” 3 So with Yahweh as their witness, all the Israeli elders made a formal agreement with David, and they anointed him as king over all Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he became their king and he reigned for a total of forty years:[ref] 5 seven and a half years in Hebron as king of Yehudah, then thirty-three years in Yerushalem as king over all Israel and Yehudah.